A pair of Colorado State University researchers have won a $1 million grant to help them create a laser microscope that they hope will illuminate how molecules communicate with each other and how sometimes that communication goes awry.

Stu Tobet, director of CSU’s School of Biomedical Engineering, and electrical engineering professor Randy Bartels said they hope the three-year W.M. Keck Foundation grant will enable them to build and test a microscope that will provide close-up views of small groups of molecules.

People have been trying to figure out how to visually bore into what those molecules are up to for quite a while, Tobet said.

Bartels said while the problem isn’t new, the approach they’ve come up with for building a better microscope is.

“The difference between what we’re doing and what people have done before is we’re taking laser cultures that are short, bright flashes in time” he said. “Those short, bright pulses of light should let us get to lower concentrations so we can visualize cells talking to each other.”

Deciphering those molecular conversations should help researchers better understand cancer, which results from miscommunication that causes cells to run amok, Bartels said.

The owners of Boulder’s Sterling University Peaks apartments, who this summer were cited for illegally subdividing 92 bedrooms in the complex, have reached an agreement to settle the case for $410,000, the city announced Thursday.